UMICH vs UC - lots of factors please help

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>hi im a new member here on the forum, i found it while i was searching for appealing information. anyway im in a situation and i thought id ask since much of the advice i find here seems helpful.</p>

<p>im from los angeles, a graduating high school senior from north hollywood hgm.
im trying to choose primarily between umich and ucsd, but i was also interested in appealing to berkeley. unfortunately, it seems the deadline for appealing is today.. which sucks but what can i do. </p>

<p>now i know a normal decision between ucsd and umich is a given umich but theres more to the story.
- to qualify for the cal grant (the bulk of the financial aid) i missed the 3.0 unweighted GPA requirement, i had a 2.96 for my 10th and 11th. which again sucks but what can i do. so in short, the PRICE factor carries much less importance; umich is giving me 30k not including scholarships.
- im from LA so im a little worried about how bored im going to be. lots of people say ucsd is boring. but ann arbor is pretty small too. and i dont know what ill do without the beach ive taken for granted my entire life. i like to snowboard too, but theres no mountains in michigan. all i see are art galleries and nightbars. but i hear from a lot of people that ucsd is pretty boring too</p>

<p>i think what it comes down to is location.
umich is a great school, but its location sucks? maybe you can change my understanding. and by location i mean weather, ann arbor may be too small/boring?, umich being so spread out sucky?
san diego is a not so great school, but its got location. la jolla, san diego, beach, weather
i visited san francisco a while back, and i loved the vibe there. i felt at home in berkeley. umich not so much. being in ann arbor felt like being enclosed in a small town. seemed like i walked through all of downtown ann arbor in a couple hours.
please help me if you have any advice</p>

2

<p>I have the same feeling when I visit Ann Arbor; I live approximately 40 minutes away. I came between choosing between NYU Stern and UMich LSA, of which I chose the latter.</p>

<p>While the campus is mundane and trite now, considering I've lived in proximity to Ann Arbor for 10 years, I knew that I would nonetheless grow to at least have a tiny penchant for the University as a whole. </p>

<p>When it comes down to it, the campus isn't really as important as it seems. Think about how quickly high school went by; college will go by quicker. </p>

<p>Furthermore, I don't meant to offend in any way, but academically, UCSD might be a better fit. While you did gain admission to UMich OOS, which is no small feat, the academic rigor might be a bit too much. </p>

<p>UMich and UC Berkeley have generally similar academic rigor. If UC Berkeley didn't deem you to be academically fit at its institution, would you be so aptly fit at UMich?</p>

<p>Also, it depends on what your intended major is. If you plan on pursuing a field in biology, most blatant being medicine, then UCSD is the most opportune, especially for the price.</p>

<p>If you are leaning more towards business, arts, music, or any other non-science field, then UMich might be more for you. While UCSD does offer superb education, UMich is top 10 in most major categories of study.</p>

<p>To be honest, if you plan on attending graduate school regardless of your major/intended vocation, I would attend UCSD. Go to UCSD, save a few dollars for graduate school, be near family and friends, and enjoy the warm weather.</p>

<p>Hope that helped.</p>

3

<p>obviously Michigan thinks he's a qualified applicant. who knows what other factors were involved in the uc-b decision...umich rejects plenty of top notch students and berkeley does as well. it's ridiculous to say "well, X university thinks you are qualified to attend here, but since you were rejected by Y State, you probably shouldn't go to X." </p>

<p>to the OP, ann arbor is widely regarded as one of the best college towns in the country. if anything, it's a reason to choose umich over ucsd. come to michigan.</p>

4

<p>Hmm...I knew as soon as I posted that comment, it would turn into a little touchy subject. I apologize first off; I didn't meant it to be offensive or derisive in any way.</p>

<p>But when considering colleges, one should nonetheless consider the academic rigor, as well as his or her place in the class. For example, a national merit semi-finalist at my high school is attending MSU instead of UMich (both of which the student was admitted to). While UMich is the obvious choice, the student took into consideration her placement; she wants to become a doctor. </p>

<p>Whereas she might be in the top 10% at UMich, she'll be in the top 1% at MSU, helping her gain admissions to MSU and UMich's Med schools a little more easily.</p>

<p>Once again, I apologize if that comment came off offensive; I didn't meant it that way.</p>

5

<p>first off i cant seem to find what OOS and OP means. and i want to thank those who took the time to reply.</p>

<p>i was accepted into both colleges as a mechanical engineering major, which is well respected at umich. i was rejected from berkeley also as a mechE; i know berk's engineering is ridiculously difficult to get into, but its always what ive wanted to study. i strongly believe had i applied to berk non-engineering, i wouldve been accepted (considering how i placed among others in my class and their acceptances)</p>

<p>im having a hard time with the advice though. jxu says ann arbor is pretty mundane, obrien says ann arbor is great. (btw are you at umich?)
jxu: i wont be saving money at ucsd, i wont be too near family (as a matter of fact i want a little independence), wont be near friends as they are going to colleges too (i want to make new friends at college as well), so basically its the weather? i dont want the weather to be my deciding factor, esp since as a LA person, snow is magical to me :]
obrien: if you go to umich or live in ann arbor, what makes in so great of a college town?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

6

<p>Hey ginger,</p>

<p>In your case, I would go with UMich. UCSD is not very well known for its engineering, whereas UMich is very well known. </p>

<p>Perhaps I downplayed Ann Arbor a little bit. Truly, it's a nice, cozy town nestled in Southeast Michigan.</p>

<p>But, it will become monotonous, as will San Diego, if you chose to go there. Both campuses will become a little less exciting as you live there longer. But you'll find Ann Arbor to be accommodating towards a college experience, both academically and socially.</p>

<p>Why is it "mundane" for me? I've lived within 40 minutes of Ann Arbor for almost 10 years now, and have gone there many times to hang out with my friends. </p>

<p>Ultimately, I would choose UMich, not because of its campus, but because of its excellent engineering school.</p>

<p>Have fun, and start shopping for a coat, scarf, gloves, and other winter accessory items. </p>

<p>Good luck with your decision. :)</p>

7

<p>thanks again for helping.</p>

<p>although umich is a better school, both overall and in engineering, i dont want to make my decision on this factor alone.</p>

<p>i guess some of the things i would like to know is:
- is ann arbor a fun place to be in, are there lots of things to do, will i be bored within a few months? if there are things to do, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT!
- hows the atmosphere in michigan, are the people nice (the people i talked to were very friendly, students on both central an north campus)
- im fine with cold weather (i think), but does cold weather tend to make people cranky or gloomy? does it make the campus and the city less lively beacuse everyone stays in? (this is a bigger factor than just being cold)
- is riding the M-buses back and forth tedious? (im in engineering and will have to commute from north campus often)
- is san diego boring? will i be bored after a few months?
- hows the atmosphere in ucsd?</p>

8

<p>I disagree with jxu. I found that Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan become more fun as time goes by. There is something unique and almost magical about the town and university that is hard to describe. The quaint streets filled with great bookstores, cafes, international restaurants, art galleries, theatres, shops and stores etc...Plus Ann Arbor is home to many major companies, such as Borders, Dominos, Google and Toyota, so you have a large young professional population living in the city. On-campus school spirit and activity are hard to match. Worldclass (and I do not use this word loosely) cultural, intellectual, political, athletic, musical and artistic events are a daily occurance at the University of Michigan. </p>

<p>Ann Arbor obviously isn't as cosmopolitan and culturaly rich as Paris or London and it isn't as lively as NYC or LA. But as far as college towns go, it is one of the very best.</p>

9

<p>I have been accepted to UMich Engineering with $30,000 and Berkeley Engineering with $20,000. Which one do you think I should accept. I am from New York and I love sports, especially football. I also like hot weather. Please help.</p>

10

<p>Both are great. Cal is slightly better in Engineering and Michigan is slightly better in sports. Cal is obviously warmer than Michigan and when all is said and done, Michigan will probably cost you $10,000 less/year. You really should go with your gut.</p>

11

<p>thanks for the reply. it's really a tough decision to make, because even though Berkeley is better in engineering, and it is nice to be in the top 2 engineering school in the nation, my heart isn't in engineering. In the long-run, it's in medicine, so do you think the nicer weather and higher rank of Cal outweighs the cheaper cost of UMich to save up for med school? also, do you think Cal would be the better choice because it leaves my options more open in engineering just in case i DO choose to study engineering instead of medicine?</p>

12

<p>Nelish, I don't see a significant difference between the #2 Engineering program in the nation and the #6 Engineering program in the nation. To me, they are practically the same. Cal has a slight advantage, but not enough to make it a clear cut favorite. I recommend you think about the very different settings and chose based on fit.</p>

13

<p>I have always been a diligent scholar in terms of academics, but I think the competitiveness at Berkeley will make me stressed out like never before. UMich would not be so bad compared to Berkeley. On the other hand, do you think that the stress that I would undertake at Berkeley will pay off better than if I go to UMich? The weather would be sweet at Berkeley, but I don't mind UMich weather, either, so that's not as big of a factor to me. Only the academic rigor of Berkeley intimidates me.</p>